Sports Day

The boys & I decided to have a theme for every day of Spring Break. Yesterday (Monday) was Sports Day. We vowed to spend a big chunk of our day playing sports. The idea was to have fun but to also practice fundamental skills of each. The boys picked basketball, tennis, skateboarding, boxing and gymnastics. Their friend, Sarah, who lives nearby joined us.
We started by shooting baskets at our kid-sized goal in the driveway. I had a feeling it would be less frustrating for Charlie who isn't quite ready for regulation size.



Then we packed the car with gear and headed down the street to our neighborhood sports area. It is a combination tennis/basketball court. It's in utter disrepair but was sufficient for our needs. We played tennis for the first 45 minutes. But the court was in full-sunlight and I soon realized we had forgotten sunblock. So we opted for basketball & skating (in the shade). Luckily I did remember the water bottles and allergy pills. We may have gotten a touch of sunburn. But even with the heavy layer of pollen on every surface, we didn't have a single sneeze or asthma attack. Yay!




Once we were home & had a snack, the boys brought out their boxing gloves & sparring helmets. I thought Sarah was awfully brave to agree to get in "the ring" with my rough & tumble gang. But she's a martial arts student, just like Will, and held her own just fine. I showed them how to protect their heads & asked them to punch "respectfully". But they didn't hear a word of it. They all did their best to obliterate each other. As a result, everyone got their bell rung, got mad, and quit. So, to summarize, boxing did not go well.



We took a break for dinner and a bath. Surprisingly, the boys didn't harbor any ill feelings about the boxing row. I guess that's just part of being a kid. We had intended to make gymnastics our last sport of the evening. The boys were going to practice their handstands & backbends. But it became clear halfway through dinner that Charlie's day was coming to a close. By the end of dinner he was in full meltdown mode. He went to bed crying, with a sore behind.

Tantrums aside, it was a great day. I found out that Will can now skate like a champ -- and that he enjoys tricks that make a mom's heart stop. I was also pleasantly surprised that Charlie has fairly decent basketball skills. Enough so that I offered to send him to camp to improve them. The kids improved at all of their sports, exercised good sportsmanship and had a lot of fun (so did I).